Paris (CNN) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad had committed "irreparable" damage in his government's crackdown on anti-government protests in recent months.

Speaking to French diplomats in Paris, Sarkozy pledged that France and its allies would do everything legally possible to help the Syrian people achieve freedom and democracy.

"The regime in Damascus is wrong to believe it is safe from its own people," he said.

More than 2,000 people have been killed in Syria since mid-March, the United Nations has said. Al-Assad blames armed gangs for fomenting violence, forcing his government to take action against them.